Dartmouth played all four teams in the NCAA East Region this season -- Union, Quinnipiac, Providence and Vermont. Coach Bob Gaudet spoke with Hearst Connecticut Media about the strengths of each team and who will emerge victorious this weekend and head to the Frozen Four (April 10, 12 in Philadelphia).

No. 1 seed Union (28-6-4): "We played them in the (ECAC) playoffs and I thought they were even games (losing 3-0 and 4-2). When we played them most recently, the difference in their team is (Shayne) Gostisbehere, (Mat) Bodie and (Daniel) Carr. They are a very deep team, they are a very good team across the board, but those three guys are difference-makers. Gostisbehere and Bodie on defense are really hard to pin down. They have really good mobility and in transition, they're excellent. (Coach) Rick Bennet does a really good job. They are a fundamentally sound team. And I thought their goaltending (Colin Stevens) was excellent. They're the number one team in the country right now and it's well deserved. They've been very consistent all season long and they seem to find a way to stay with their game plan. They're not really flashy but they're very sound fundamentally."

No. 2 Quinnipiac (24-9-6): "When we played them, they were fabulous. In that particular game (an 8-1 loss), they didn't have a weakness. The two Jones boys (Connor and Kellen) were great. The big No. 19 (Jordan Samuels-Thomas) was outstanding and the goaltending was excellent for them. They had graduated a pretty good group of players and the young kid (goaltender Michael Garteig) that played for them did a great job. You've got to give (coach) Rand (Pecknold) credit, he came back and put together another really formidable group. I remember how disciplined they were, how hard they worked and how skilled they were. They moved the puck on the power play very, very well. They're a good team. They lost a lot of players, but they still have the Jones boys, they still have (Matthew) Peca. They have a lot of veteran guys on that team that are high end players, and they're pretty deep."

No. 3 Providence (21-10-6): "The goalie (Jon Gillies), when we played them, he was in the World Juniors (winning a gold medal with Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia). Watching them on tape and talking with Nate (Leaman) their coach, he's (Gillies) a key player for them. They're also a team that's pretty stingy. Nate's done a good job with that team in developing in a very consistent way that they play, first to fourth lines, six defensemen. The puck ends up deep most of the time. They'll produce quite a few shots on goal because they're very sound. They'll throw the puck at the net and they'll try to create those scrums around the cage to score. They have a good skill level on that team. It's a pretty consistent team as far as the depth goes. Their goaltender is a difference-maker, no question about it, and the rest of the team is very solid. They are a really hard-working team."

No. 4 Vermont (20-14-3): "They're a really, really hard-working team that's actually pretty deep. They're very sound defensively, really well coached. I think Kevin Sneddon and his staff have done a great job with that team coming off of last year (11-19-6). They are a really sound team. We played them up in Burlington and it was a really good game (a 1-1 tie). I was impressed by their work ethic, they have a good skill level, but they are a hard working, disciplined team. Tough to play against. They just don't beat themselves. They're stingy. They're not going to beat themselves. They're disciplined and the weaknesses are hard to point out. All these teams are very similar in a lot of ways. They have a goaltender (sophomore Brody Hoffman) that's really outstanding, a World Junior player. They're a program that's done an incredible job in taking those important steps in their development."

Gaudet's view: "These might be four of the hardest-working teams in the country. All have good skill levels and everything like that. They take nothing for granted. These teams play hard consistently night in and night out, not a lot of ups and downs. They're all like that. It should be lots of fun. I'm not a prognosticator, but I'll say this, they're going to be really good hockey games. I look at the Union team, they're number one in the country and that puts a lot of pressure on them. They've got a very tough draw. You would think that the number one team in the country should prevail, but that's a very tough group of teams. I'd be hard-pressed to pick one. It'll be great hockey though.

Who wins: "I think Union does. It's a bit of a front-running opinion, but they're the number one team in the country right now and they've been consistent throughout the season. They've done their job night in and night out and they've created that gap. They've won the league (ECAC) and they won the (league) tournament. It's a very, very tough league. It's the third year in a row (they've done that). They've been knocking on the door and it's not going to be an easy process to get out of that regional. But pressed, I would pick them."